Okay, Internet. Here goes. There's something I haven't told you about Baby Ike. I don't want to sound all dramatic and hand-wringy about it, but I really can't pretend that it's not worrying me a little tiny teeny bit.

MY BABY CAN'T READ!

Wait. No. Wrong thing.

Ike cannot sit up unassisted. In fact, he can't even really sit up if he's anything less than *fully* assisted, as in, sitting in a Bumbo or with both of my hands on him.

Meanwhile, he's army-scooting around all over the place and occasionally getting up on his hands and knees. His neck control is perfect. Yesterday he pulled himself to almost a full stand from his changing table using nothing but the front of my shirt and the ends of my hair.

Yet in a high chair -- where he's currently devouring three or four ounces of food at a time and making really excellent pincher-grasp progress with self-feeding -- he still needs the support cushion to keep him from slo-o-o-w-ly pitching forwards and off to the side.

Being that this is not, after all, my first rodeo, I've been almost fanatically determined to not make a thing out of it.

Sure, both of his brothers were sitting up by well before this age, but comparing and contrasting babies is an exercise in stupendous futility. It's also stupid. And going through the developmental delay roller coaster once already sometimes actually helps with the inevitable parental worry and freakouts over nothing. I'm supposed to know what things will work themselves out and what's a true red flag. I've read books! I have worksheets! WORKSHEETS, GODDAMMIT.

Noah actually hit his first-year milestones the earliest of any of 'em -- one of the advantages, I think, of being born the size of a two month old. Ezra fell more into an average sort of timeframe, then made up for it by going all Evel Knievel on us in the go-go toddler years, which is when Noah mostly decided he was a fan of sitting still and not doing things or going places or touching stuff or talking about any of it.

And technically, seven-and-a-half months isn't really that "late." (At least according to all the people talking about their non-sitting eight- and nine-month-olds on Yahoo Answers, which I admit is not really the best place to be getting your parenting yardsticks, but HOT DAMN did someone SEO the shit out of that mess, because it's always the first 72 results on the page.) The Internet is a fount of anecdotal shit about babies who sat at five months and babies who sat at eight months, and every variation up to and including babies who didn't even roll over until 10 months but then stood up and starting walking the next day.

I'd at least reassured myself it's not "call the doctor and get an extra appointment" late. More like "I really hope he figures it out by his nine-month check-up so it won't be a THING" late. I blamed his long torso, his not-exactly be-thundered thighs. I mentally berated myself for every minute spent in the exersaucer or swing and dedicated 20 straight minutes a day to no-bulky-diaper bare-butt Sitting Practice. I reminded myself that babies are goddamn jerks who do things when they are ready to do things and had some more wine.

On the other hand, Christ, why isn't he sitting up yet?

Yesterday, at Noah's occupational therapy appointment, I finally caved and decided to be That Asshole. (You know, the asshole at a dinner party who learns there's a dentist in attendance and is all, "Can you take a look at my mandibular third molar?" and then doesn't technically wait for an answer.)

His therapist -- who has known Noah since he was three years old and still laughs about the day she met him, when he threw a fit and got himself wedged and stuck in a preschool cubby -- is incredibly chill and relaxed but obviously knows her shit. She was admiring Ike's tummy scoot and amazed at how close he is to full-on crawling, then started to talk about Noah's appointment...at which point I was like, "YEAH FINE WHATEVER THAT KID'LL BE JUST FINE BUT SINCE I'M PAYING FOR THE FULL HOUR CAN I TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS OTHER ONE?"

I set Ike up on his butt to demonstrate. He wobbled for the barest fraction of a second with his hands tripodded for support, then started bobbing down towards his toes before executing a full-on faceplant on the carpet. SPLAT. I doubt I could have counted to two-Mississippi in the meantime.

And, well, I saw the Look. Her eyes darkened, her brow furrowed.

Oh, how I know and hate that Look.

And suddenly I wanted to simply flip Ike back over and go back to praising his tummy-based mobility LA LA LA LA LAAAAAAA.

What had I expected? You go looking for trouble, you'll find it. For every dozen babies who sat up a tad late there's the one who didn't, and GUESS WHICH ONE an occupational therapist who specializes in childhood developmental delays is gonna likely have as her point of reference?

We talked about it for a few minutes -- how much time does he spend in baby-containment things, do we let him practice sitting every day, we discussed his neck control and eye contact, etc. I did another non-sitting facesplat demonstration while she debated his core strength, at which point Ike was all, STOP THAT, IMMA BLOWING THIS JOINT, and scooted off like a half-paralyzed turtle in search of germy waiting-room toys to shove in his mouth.

(But I still saw the Look. 18 hours later and I'm still thinking about the Look.)

This morning I finally remembered that I have one extra special secret weapon: Blog about it.

Blog about it, knowing that the speed at which your baby rushes to make you sheepishly publish a "never mind!" retraction is directly proportional to how big of a freaking deal you make over whatever it is that you're worried about. It works every time.

Based on the number of words I've just dedicated to this non-topic, he'll be sitting by tomorrow, I bet.

(Not pictured: Me holding his hand while snapping the picture quickly before the faceplant.)

Comments

Oh, The Look. How I know it! I feared it and imagined I saw The Look every time I took my oldest (who still has significant speech delays) in to the doctor. I love how you keep things in perspective! I LOVE how you're willing to confess to us. It makes me feel so much better as I struggle with my worries with my own.

So, here's the thing. The thing you already know. You already think its something to worry about. And you know from Noah, when you think you should worry, just find someone who can help. Its not something you're going to regret doing. And it might help you sleep. And if he up and starts sitting in the midst of his first appointment, then yeah, all good. And if not, well, you get a plan to get there.

Can't remember when my son started sitting (was within the "normal" time frame whatever). But if you are at all concerned, you know the niggle in your mind...take him, get him help and be done with it :) Everything else is good...just this one thing :)

I don't know if you know about this or not, but I'mma share it with you anyway, because I've had a nephew and a cousin both with "weak core strength" who's OT's recommended this method:

One of you have him sit on an exercise ball as you sit on the floor in front of him. The other (Assuming Jason, or whichever other human is nearby) be behind him and gently jiggle the ball. It will force him to flex his abdominal muscles in attempt to not fall off (which is why you're there, even if you're just holding his hands or his thighs or whatever.

I mean, I sell playgrounds for a living, so I'm not even remotely qualified. I've just got family members that this has worked wonders for.

On second hand, he's probably all "Watch this, I'm gonna make her FLIP OUT, and then as soon as we get to the extra appointment and they ask for a demonstration, I'm gonna nail it and then give you my extra cute stinker grin that I've been perfecting. Ha ha!!!"

Totally unrelated comment - you made me a better parent today. I volunteered for 3 hours in my 4 year old's preschool class. One boy had a tantrum at every transition. (Moving from circle to music time = he threw himself to the floor. Music teacher asking him to return instruments = he had to be physically removed from the classroom because of the disruption he caused.) And there are a set of slightly developmentally delayed & very rowdy triplets in the class too that should really have just waited another year to start preschool, but this transition-phobic kid makes them look like cake. A few years ago I would have looked at him & thought his parents were awful for not teaching him to behave or function in a group setting. After reading you for years, instead I looked at their teacher and asked her what his diagnosis was. She was so relieved I understood he had a diagnosable problem and wasn't just a bad kid. Your blog made me compassionate today. Your children made a stranger a better person.

I only have the one kid, but I can sympathize. I think his development was just sporadic and wonky enough to make me insane. He did sit unassisted at 5 months. But he did not roll in either direction until he was almost 10 months. By then he could sit, pull to a stand and cruise but the little man would not roll over. Then one day the little mofo rolled over and sat up. Laid down. Rolled over the other way and sat up again. He's kind of a jerk. ;) At 3.5 he still waits until he magically masters a skill in his non-existant sleep before attempting it. Practicing stuff is not his strong suit!
And I hope Ike makes you feel silly for posting this. :)

I'd be freaking. I'd be wrong, and baby would still sit whenever he darn well felt like it. But, I get why it's bothering you even when your rational side says don't. I do think it would be worth getting a developmental appointment just so that you feel a bit more in control.

Trust your gut. If it bothers you get it checked out so that you either sleep better at night OR stay up worrying because now you KNOW that something's wrong.

With that being said, my daughter (long torso, skinny legs, huge head) didn't sit up at all on her own until 9 months. She was a gigantic 10lb-er at birth and always way off the top of the charts until she hit 2 years. When I was all wound up about her not sitting up at 9 months, her dr. said she was just top heavy and it was just . . .gravity. She sat up the next day, crawled the next, and walked within a week.

My daughter technically sat up the first time when she was 6 months, but I think she was close to 9 months before she could actually sit, unsupported for any really length of time. And high chairs were the worst. She always slipped down in that thing.

I work as a Nurse Practitioner at a very busy pediatric office. As someone commented earlier, it doesn't matter when he does it, as long as he does it. It sounds like Ike can tripod a little .. did you try putting both his hands forward between his legs for this tripod or just one? Both hands counts too! Plus, I have SO many babies that just skip milestones .. so he doesn't sit but he crawls, that's good! Or he doesn't crawl, but he went straight to walking/running, excellent! So don't worry too much just yet. If you really are worried still, get him to your peds office - don't feel bad if it turns out to be nothing, we really like the parental reassurance appointments, especially when it comes to milestones. If he notices that there is something not quite right, it's better to get evaluated and treated (physical therapy, and what not) earlier. Your next scheduled appointment is probably not until 9mths, so that is quite a ways out ... 1.5 months of worry is not going to be fun for you!

Plus, he'll probably be sitting today, just like you said. I always get worried patients who think their babies are constipated and when I open their diaper it's like.. an explosion of poop happened... and the parents are mortified since their baby has now made them look silly. Babies love doing that!

If it makes you feel any better I am in the exact same situation! My daughter was born about a week after Ike and she is rolling around and scooting on the floor like it is her job. Sitting up though? Nope. We also cloth diaper and I am wondering if that has something to do with it?

I have very little doubt that this is just one of those funky baby things.

Some babies want to sit. Some want to crawl. Some want to stand. And once they get that ONE thing they couldn't be bothered about the other stuff. Obviously Ike cares more about being mobile than sitting. Whereas my first was a sitting machine. That kid wanted to sit from birth and he was always kinda meh on crawling and standing.

Your baby is scooting, though! My second-born didn't start sitting up until well into her 8th month, and she's a perfectly healthy, full of attitude 8 1/2 year old right now. Time will tell, and you know that, so just try to chill a little in the meantime:)

My sister's baby is a few weeks younger than Ike and he's not sitting either (but is pre-crawling like crazy). Apparently the babynonsitter thing is an epidemic! It is her first rodeo but she's not concerned.

My kid didn't start sitting on his own until AFTER he started crawling - so at about 9 months. He started crawling at just before 8 months then would stop and push himself up into a sitting position and slowly he began to sit on his own. Before that? I had to prop him up or he'd just fall over. $100 says you have nothing to worry about here.

Why yes, those eyeballs are giantly (magically) delicious. Also, he's a gonna walk. Fuck sitting and crawling; there are other boys to be chased! You'll be all hand wringing mah babiest baby won't sit up and then bam! he'll be GONE from the spot tearing up all the Star Trek things.

It's caused by those big, 'ol, sweetsy eyes of his. They make the front of his face too heavy, thus the face planting. He'll figure out how to work those eyes to their best advantage before too long. Then your biggest worry with him will be getting rid of all the little hussy girls. Keep us posted and good luck.

"Blog about it, knowing that the speed at which your baby rushes to make you sheepishly publish a "never mind!" retraction is directly proportional to how big of a freaking deal you make over whatever it is that you're worried about. It works every time. "

This made me laugh - because in our house the saying is 'go to the dr'. Seriously - the second the dr asks those 'development milestone' questions and I have to say 'no' - the VERY next day my daughter will go and do it.

Being a mom is tough - you're ALWAYS second guessing yourself even if it's your 10th child. I sound like I've had a jillion kids, but I only have 1... so take my advice with a grain of salt the size of a VW.

Because I worked in the infant room at a daycare, I feel totally qualified to tell you: it's fine. Nbd. He will sit up soon.
I think because he's a long inchworm baby with huge noggin. Big, gigantic beautiful noggin.
That is my professional baby expert opinion.
Carry on.

Does it help the magic work if I chime in with my story? (I dont have a blog so I'm not exactly how the blog magic works.) I'm going to assume yes. My son who could talk a hole in your head by the time he was 1-seriously-hit every single physical milestone in the very last hour of the very last day of the "appropriate" developmental window. And at 5 is still continuing the trend with the inability to stay dry at night (sigh). Apparently the day before his sixth birthday we will no longer need to buy pull-ups.

I'm an occupational therapist...you don't have to freak out yet. He's still borderline. My son suffered a stroke so I understand the worry.

If he's army crawling, he may just be more motivated to move than sit. It could still mean his core is weak. So it would be good to work on it.

With my son, I put him in the middle of a bunch of pillows and played games that required him to stay sitting. He loved peek a boo.

Since the pillows will catch him, you don't have to...just let him fall. Then gently pick him up after the face plant and repeat. See if he gets the drift and starts to sit up longer. Then help him less and less to get up...see if he'll try it on his own.

If that doesn't work after a week of practicing, everyday...email me. I'll give you more suggestions.

My baby is the opposite of Ike. She's chubby beyond chubby. Like 20 lbs at 4 months chubby. She's been sitting unassisted since 4 months. I think it is because she has such a wide base. Rolling on the other hand? Too much heft to get around. Just not interested.
I bet Ike is just fine.

Both of my kids had/have gross motor delays. We are no strangers to Physical Therapy. I would wait until his 9 month checkup and see what progress he's made. If he's still not sitting up well by then, I'd mention something and begin the referral/evaluation process for Early Intervention or private PT. It could be a core strength issue, or it could be nothing. Only time will tell!

My oldest daughter didn't sit unassisted until she was about 8 months old even though she was full-blown crawling (even up the stairs) at 6 months. My youngest sat at like 5 months but didn't crawl until 9 months. You have one thing right, babies are jerks.

For what it's worth, my daughter practically skipped sitting altogether and barely crawled - but she was walking at 9.5 months. She's 5 now, and while she still doesn't like sitting in one place, she can do it fine. I hope that's slightly reassuring! Plus, good Lord, Ike is the cutest baby ever!

So baby Ike and my baby "Oscar" are one week apart--they were due on the same day (do I mention that in EVERY comment I leave?) Oscar is a champion sitter who has not even once rolled back to front. And very rarely rolls front to back. Takes all kinds. But man, you gotta hate "the look," huh?

Gotta throw in my me-too story. My daughter could sit unassisted at 4 months! And she rolled over! Once! Then she realized with horror that rolling over resulted in being on her tummy. She never rolled over again. Ever. Really. She is now 12 years old, and I am still not completely convinced that she can roll over in bed.

She also walked at 11 months without ever learning to crawl. The girl REALLY didn't like being face down.

My turd didn't start sitting on his own til almost 7 months. At the time I thought it was terrifying, but his head was just insanely large (like an orange on a toothpick, heh) and I reckon it was too much effort to keep that thing afloat. This too shall pass Mommy, thanks for sharing.

p.s. I often think my boy is "behind" because he's not potty-trained yet (him = super stubborn) and Ezra seems like a baby genius. They were born about a month or so apart. So, that, yeah.

My six month old doesn't roll over. You know what I tell him? Dogs roll over. Well, most dogs, but not ours. So, really, rolling isn't that impressive. Same goes for sitting. Ike is just preparing for something really good.

Ok, so I was going to leave a comment before, but since I saw your Twitter post (it's a slow Friday at work), I will instead say that blogs must indeed be magical. This may prod me to finally update my own once in a while!

Also, I usually can't even tell what Ike is doing in any picture of him for a good 5 seconds because all I see are those eyes! Good lord, lady - you will need some luck in the teen years with those 3 beautiful boys of yours...

Mine was full-on crawling at 5.5 months, pulling up and cruising a month later, but didn't sit until 8ish months. He simply had no interest in skills other than mobility - if I tried to prop him up sitting he would just flip onto his belly and escape. Is this order of milestones so unusual?
Oh hai, by the way, delurking. Your babies are delicious.

Babies love to show us up, for sure. I sincerely hope Ike is already sitting up. But if not, try not to worry...as many people have said, he's already scooting and clearly would prefer to be mobile! My son is about 6 weeks younger than Ike and his attempts at sitting have required SO much more involvement from me than my daughter did. I literally had to tripod his arms for him the first, I don't know, HUNDRED times I sat him up. And still, 9 times out of 10, he gets so excited about something that he throws his arms up in the air and face plants. He's just so much more physical than his sister was and sitting still is pretty much for the birds. His sister, for the record, was an old pro at sitting by his age (which isn't even that old!). Babies are all just so different. My daughter didn't roll from back to front until 5 months but my son had both directions down at 11 weeks. ELEVEN. And he hasn't stopped moving since.
And don't for one second berate yourself for the time he spends in exersaucers, etc. I know my son spends a ton more time in there than my daughter did simply because I don't have enough hands!

Ok, I just saw your twitter update and came back over here to laugh and congratulate you on the blogging magic and also say Watch Out and touch up the babyproofing now. I was not kidding that my daughter was on.her.feet cruising 4 days after sitting on her own for the first time at age 7 months.

Both of my kids didn't sit unassisted until 9 mos. My daughter scooted on her fanny, never crawled, and started walking at 15 mos. My son scooted from 9-13 mos, crawled from 13-17 mos, and then finally walked at 17mos. She was average sized,and he was a big baby- 11 lbs, so the pediatrician said it was harder for him to balance/ move/ etc because he was heavier.

I had 27week preemie twins so they actually did have some developmental delay. But my daughter was actually starting to walk BEFORE she would sit up. People would put her down and at 10mo she would flop right over. The developmental therapist said something about the fact that she never really played with her feet and that was probably why. (She was so tiny and short I guess is why she skipped that part I they thought it was strange at the time but not concerning) so he's not the only one doing things out of order.

Another failsafe in my experience is officially mentioning it, which you were at leat half way to.

Our younger son (a 29weeker) wasn't sitting at Thanksgiving at 11 months and by Christmas he was sitting, crawling, pulling up, cruising and starting to take the occasional couple steps walking. It's amazing how progress can just happen.

My first kid sat at 8 months, crawled (kind of) at 9, and walked at... SEVENTEEN FREAKING MONTHS. I had my second child when she was 16 months old. You can imagine how much fun that was. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her. She just didn't feel like it, yo. Especially with the walking. She's a total perfectionist, and she didn't believe in walking until she absolutely knew she could do it without falling. Within a week of her first steps, she was walking like a pro. None of this wobbly nonsense.

My second child, on the other hand, rolled over at some absurd age, like... twelve weeks or something. And then sat about five minutes later. And then crawled at six, climbed stairs at seven, and walked at ten. She started walking while we were in the middle of a move and living in a hotel room. That was super fun. Also nothing wrong with her, except perhaps lots and lots of brain damage from all the falling over at early age (giant head, very tall).

Yay Baby Ike! This was my favorite, favorite time with my kid....He could sit so could better entertain himself but couldn't really go anywhere. Plus pictures of babies sitting like this always look a little like wee mushrooms sprouting up out of the carpet. I loooove it.

I started leafing through journals and got kind of frustrated/distracted, but it looks like I have two who sat up at around 8 months, one at 7 months, one at 6 months, and one ENOUGH OF THIS LOOKING UP STUFF.

That's awesome. Glad I was late to comment. But... My second was late to sit (8 months) and never got up on hands and knees to crawl. At 12 months he was still army crawling. So keep an eye out for that. The not crawling was a SIGN, one that was ignored by my pediatrician and one I still kick myself for not making more noise about at my son's 12-month checkup.

Long story short, our insurance changed, we got a new doctor, my son got physical therapy, and I taught him to crawl by hauling him around with a support strap around his belly. It developed the muscles in his legs so that he could learn to walk, which he did at 19 months. It would have been better if it was caught earlier, because I ended up in physical therapy too after throwing out my back. We all look back on it now and laugh, but at the time I was pretty angry at the doctors and myself.

My Literally certified genius kid did all of that. Literally waiting till the last second, usually in front the doctor who was going, hmm maybe we should look into that, and wham he would do it. Went from not moving and barely sitting to rolling scooting and walking in less than a month. Never likes to do anything unless he was perfect.He kept it up until first grade too. We didn't think he could read ( his reading around wasn't even at Dick and Jane level) and we got a note to call the teacher who evaluates reading skills. We though he needed help but it turned out to be a meeting with the gifted teacher to discuss alternatives since he was so disruptive ( he has ADHD).
Thanks for your blog, though, it helps me remember that he can't help his behavior either.

Totally can't relate to 'have been there before' but CAN relate on the feeling of good old worry vs rational facts. (emotions always win if you go by them quite frequently) so just chillax, drink your wine and watch your little rascal roll away and into the cat!
(bet the cat will make him stand up by srach...nvm. Yours is passive lol)

Yay!! I'm glad he showed you up today! I was gonna say that my son (who, in his/our defense was a 35 weeker) wasn't walking when we went for his 9 month checkup. The ped we saw (who wasn't his regular doctor, because she was on maternity leave) freaked out and referred us to EI. I cried. And then I told the ladies at day care, and by the time we had our evaluation three weeks later, he was sitting like a pro. I give the day care ladies all the props - they made him sit, even when he didn't want to. The thing they recommended (as well as the doctor) was to keep using the bumbo, but stop using the baby entertainment devices where he "sat", because they allowed him to lean instead of actually sitting.

My son was also a late-ish walker - he was right at 16 months before he took his first steps just because he wanted to. I think he's really just a perfectionist and waits until he's awesome at something before he'll try it.

One of my boys took forever to sit. He was just was too squirmy and more interested in moving than working on sitting still. He was actively scooting and rolling for mobility at 6 and 7 months but had little interest in sitting. His twin brother on the other hand, had a much broader base, and sat perfectly at 6 1/2 months. He didn't pull himself up to a stand till 10 1/2 months, but again he had more weight to pull up and way less interest in moving. I finally got the squirmy one to sit by putting stuff in front of him to hold onto. Started with a pumpkin (I was trying to get a picture) and thought why not try other stuff. Large, stable, interesting toys he could balance on worked best. Don't fret.

My boy, born 06-01-11 in the morning (7:51 AM) just like Ike, currently can not sit unassisted either. I am not concerned at all. Like so many have said, I know he'll eventually sit unassisted, so I'm just waiting & helping him practice in the meantime. I vowed while pregnant that I would not waste my son's infancy obsessing about milestones. With my daughter (firstborn) I OBSESSED about milestones- about when she would reach them & then drive myself crazy if she had not reached a certain one... That is still the biggest regret I have had since becoming a mom. I feel like I didn't fully enjoy my daughter during her infant period.
You're a pro mama with your 3 gorgeous boys so I know I don't really have anything profound to tell you but just wanted to reassure you that Ike is perfectly fine! My boy is almost identical to Ike in age and he's not sitting either so don't be too concerned!

My first son did everything early. Everything. Walked at 10 months, potty trained by 18 months. I was all braggy, (because obviously it was my fantastic parenting skills that made him so awesome) WHICH is exactly why my second child took his damn sweet time on everything. Sitting at 10 months, crawling at a year, didn't walk till 17 months old, potty trained at 3 AND A HALF! Nothing wrong with him except for stubornness. He is the most stuborn child you've ever met. God I love him! Even if he makes me crazy. LOVE the update.

My son scooted at 6 months, crawled at 7ish...and then sat up right around 9. Shopping carts and high chairs were only a possiblity with a cart cover that doubled as a full velcro-girdle-support kind of thing. Essentially, he didn't sit until he was also pulling himself up, and realized that hey! it hurts less to fall on my butt!

I work in an outpatient setting that provides pediatric PT OT and SLT and I have been here for over 11 yrs. Although I just do the scheduling I have learned a lot. Just the fact that you are blogging makes me feel like you know you have some concerns that are bugging you. How about you give it a month and if there is no change, see your doctor and you can always try to get a PT eval. An experienced PT will give you things to work on at home at the very least. And can check your progress even if you don't want to commit to weekly appts. Babies need PT all the time and I know you are familiar with the therapy world. So don't panic! But if it were my kid I'd make an appt now instead of later. Hope this helps!

Long time lurker, first time commenter...my youngest brother is much younger than the other two of us. Growing up he met every major motor skill with no issue at all, he was agile, but had no language development. He would point and grunt for everything he wanted and needed. My parents were worried, they took him to specialists, sought every remedy they could think to find. Nothing worked. One day (at the tender age of 4 no less) he began to speak...in complete sentences. As it turns out he was the real life baby doll to two very attentive older siblings and he just really never needed to express himself verbally. Now he won't shut up, at all.

Post-update: LOL of course. The power of announcing things on the internet! I keep complaining about lack of sleep, hoping that my little monster will prove me wrong, but thus far no luck. At least it worked for you!

One of my favorite photos of my daughter (a couple weeks younger than Ezra) is of her, just shy of 8 months, lying on her back in a field with her little nakey toes sticking up, because when she fell over, she didn't seem upset, so I told the photographer to keep shooting. At 8.5 mos, during a visit to my parents, I remember that she could sit, but was likely enough to fall that I made sure there wasn't anything hard near her. She was also teeny, so there was LOTS of propping and stuffing of things around her in the high chair. (Where she was eating broccoli with her little fists at 6 mos.)

At the same age, if we stood her up holding onto something, she could hang out there for a good while and was starting to learn to walk-while-holding-hands.

But she has always been a milestone weirdo. She first rolled front-to-back at 6 weeks. SIX WEEKS. She was born 4 weeks early, so that's an adjusted age of 2 weeks.

But I don't even know when she finally started rolling back-to-front, by then I'd just given up on looking for it.

That's how badly she hated tummy time.

She never crawled, scooted, army crawled or any of that (because she wasn't on her tummy?)

Nor pulled herself up (because she couldn't crawl to anything to pull up on?)

From about 8-ish months, if she wanted to go somewhere she let us know, we stood her up, held her hands, and away we went.

She started cruising (after we propped her up) as she approached a year, and "officially" walked at 13 mos, 1 week.

But she still couldn't stand herself up.

It was awesome. I could give her "time out" on her butt.

Except when she fell down and was stuck.

At SEVENTEEN MONTHS I finally taught her how to go from sitting to knees to standing, because she had enough receptive language to understand the instructions "Now plant your feet, and pick up your booty...."

And at a bit over TWENTY MONTHS she finally started crawling. I think she was copying her twins cousins, who are 11 months younger.

(No, just copying one of them - the other was doing a butt-hop thing at the time.)

Also, she was a bit on the late side on her speech, not delayed but just about every appointment the doctor would say "is she saying XYZ" and I would say no, and within a week, she would do it.

And the car won't make the noise for the mechanic, and as soon as you call in sick for work (or, in my case, postpone a return plane ticket for four days, due to tummy bug) you will start feeling GREAT.

Lol, I love it! As an individual who has studied Child Development in the infancy-preschool age group for far too many years of my life, I can tell you that when professionals say "every child is different", they mean it. I worked in an infant room for several years and saw babies sitting up at 4 months and babies not sitting up until nearly a year. Some babies crawl, some go straight to walking. Some babies will not say a word until they are 15 months old and then, they will talk in full sentences. The key we look for is having more than one red flag.

All that said, honestly Ike probably just had the same issue my mom always said my younger brother had growing up and that issue was the issue of his head being too heavy for his butt. No lie. When babies are born, of course their head is typically the heaviest part of their body... it takes a while to get the balance. Glad to see he's found it :)

Babies are tricky. I only have 2 kids to compare but then again, I can't really use them because they are totally DIFFERENT when it comes to well...EVERYTHING. My son, now 6, was a late sitter upper infant.. he didn't sit on his own until 7 months. He also didn't walk until weeks before his sister was born, at 15 months old..literally days before the pediatrician was giving me "that look". I know what you mean. I knew he would wait for just about the entire pregnancy to avoid walking just so my huge bellied body would have to carry him more. My son is now in kindergarten and everyone thinks he's a 2nd grader because of how huge is body is. My daughter on the other hand.. didn't sit up unassisted until about 9 months old. I know right!? but she rolled around the floor way before that, too. plus, she mastered the pincer grasp at 6 months old but also didn't walk until almost 2 years old. Her reason though was from recovering from open heart surgery..so I can't really say she's a good candidate to compare too. But yeah.. "that look" definitely got that for her.. but she definitely needed physical therapy for lots of weak muscles. And now, she climbs ladders, jumps higher than me.. basically she's a crazy 4 year old. I hope that everything works out just fine with Ike. I know it will. : )

..and not that he'll need it but i was thinking.. even if he gets physical therapy or some sort of service, only good will come from it. I don't think it would anything else other than strengthening some muscles. He's a bright little baby.

That, is freaking brilliant. I'm going to use this tool from now on. If I'm worried about something, I will blog about it to make it all fix it's self. I had the same worries with my 3rd child. He has an exceptionally long torso and took forever to sit up on his own. I actually started taking him to baby Gymboree classes where it's essentially a work out for these kids. I was hoping that secretly on some level he would see other kids his age or younger doing more physical stuff than him and either be inspired or secretly competitive. Either way, he would've been motivated and get his bottom in gear. Everything was fine in the end. It's so easy to worry with all our mother's love. Brilliant pictures. And Ike, you have a great since of humor little man. But don't give your mum too much grey hair.

I've been telling my hubby this story ad-nauseum all day. Then ready the Twitter post. LMFAO you blogging-special-powers-freaky lady. <3 to Ike and his now super-special powers. You go boy. (You realize he's gonna be cruising by February, right?)

My third baby was a really late sitter-upper too. Our pediatrician just kept telling me #3 knew he was the baby of the family and was taking advantage of it, he'd sit when he wanted to. If he wasn't sitting by 9 months we'd start to worry. Sure enough, he sat up the day after I voiced my concerns to the ped. Go figure.

My son crawled well and early (6mos), but he wouldn't sit up for the longest time. But I noticed when I put him on a blanket in the yard he would crawl to the edge, touch the grass, then crawl away from the edge. So one day i sat him down in the grass without a blanket, and VOILA! sitting up perfectly. Okay, he was also crying his fool head off, but he was sitting up just fine. So, the moral of the story - if your baby refuses to sit, put him on something he hates to touch. lol

Until I read your last paragraph, I was going to tell you about my daughter. Who at 9 months old was only sitting up with help, but in three weeks, sat up crawled, cruised and took her first steps.
I am glad Ike sat up, I am not suprised as he looks like the sort of baby who enjoys winding his mammy up. :)